Texas lawmakers and agency leaders experiment, ponder policies for an AI future
Agencies like the Texas Department of Transportation are using the technology to react to crashes and prepare invoices. More uses and regulations are coming. Full Story
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![Rush hour traffic passes by on Interstate 35 through downtown Austin on the evening of Sept. 7, 2023.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
Texas could spend federal funds meant to cut carbon emissions on highway projects
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act required Texas’ transportation agency to create a carbon reduction strategy to get $641 million federal dollars. Critics say the plan is unlikely to meaningfully cut greenhouse gasses from the state’s massive transportation sector. Full Story
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![Rush hour traffic passes by on Interstate 35 through downtown Austin on the evening of Sept. 7, 2023.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
Driverless cars are multiplying on Texas roads. Here’s what you should know.
Autonomous vehicles, or AVs, are here. Tribune journalists took a ride in one recently and answer the biggest questions about who’s driving the driverless trend and how the state regulates them. Full Story
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![A Cruise car drives down the street in downtown Austin on Sept. 26, 2023. Cruise, a San Francisco-based autonomous car company, is one of several autonomous driving companies that test vehicles in Austin.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
Texas drivers vexed by toll road payment problems got little relief from state lawmakers
Double billing, rejected automatic payments and expensive late fees are the most frequent complaints about a toll system with different operators and rules across the state. Full Story
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![Tolls in Austin.]()
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With more electric vehicles expected in Texas, two bills pave the road for fast-charging stations statewide
Two bills would form the foundation for companies to build more electric vehicle charging stations across the state, supporters say. Full Story
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![Phillips 66 Electric Fueling Station charges a Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck in Houston, on Friday, March 31, 2023.]()
Credit: Joseph Bui for The Texas Tribune -
After a two-year pause, feds give Texas the go-ahead to resume a major Houston highway expansion
Across the state, major projects have drawn fierce opposition in recent years amid a reckoning over how freeway construction in the mid-20th century created and exacerbated racial and economic segregation. Full Story
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![An aerial view of four houses next to I-45 near downtown Houston on Sept. 16, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texans urged to avoid travel in icy weather; power grid is expected to meet demand
School closures and hazardous road conditions are expected throughout a large portion of Texas, according to forecasts. State officials caution Texans about local power outages but expect the grid to stay up. Full Story
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![Icy trees in Austin on Feb. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Texas will build more than 50 new electric car charging locations along major highways
The $408 million approved Tuesday by the Federal Highway Administration will help build a network of charging facilities every 50-70 miles along certain major Texas highways. Full Story
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![A Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV plug in hybrid vehicle is charged at a public charging station in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Richard B. Levine/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
Texas accused of skirting federal environmental law to push for Austin’s Interstate 35 expansion
A group of activists is suing the Texas Department of Transportation, saying the agency split the Interstate 35 project in Austin into segments to obscure its full impacts and “circumvent” federal requirements. Full Story
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![Traffic on Interstate 35 on May 11, 2020.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Decades after Texas took part of its historic farm, a family fights again to save its land from a highway expansion
Daniel Alexander was enslaved when he founded a farm before the Civil War. 175 years later, his family is fighting to keep it intact as Texas plans to expand U.S. Highway 183. Full Story
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![Bringing flowers to her family cemetery, Rosalind Alexander-Kasparik visits her parents, Marcellus Winston and Juanita Smith, in a shared grave.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Buttigieg thinks high-speed rail would be good for Texas, wants highway expansions to consider neighborhood impacts
The U.S. transportation secretary says high-growth areas will need to pave more highway lanes — but that state and local officials should minimize environmental and community impacts. Full Story
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![U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on March 2, 2022, in Washington, D.C.]()
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Biden’s infrastructure plan will set aside about $35 billion for Texas projects
The funds will help advance existing plans, pay for much-needed repairs and launch other projects for roads, bridges, broadband access, electric vehicle charging stations and more. Full Story
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![An aerial view of Houston on April 1, 2020.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
As Texas grows, communities face an unwelcome neighbor: concrete companies. Homeowners have few options.
Concrete companies say they’re just following the law. A handful of bills addressing the issue have been filed for the 2021 legislative session. Full Story
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![Easy Mix Concrete Services LLC in southwest Austin.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
More than eight years in, Texas high-speed rail company still lacks permits to build Dallas-to-Houston route
In a letter to the Japanese prime minister, Gov. Greg Abbott said that the company had all the permits needed, but later he had to backtrack. Legislators are expected to file bills to regulate high-speed rail projects during their next session. Full Story
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![A public scoping meeting on the Dallas to Houston High-Speed Rail hosted by TXDOT and the Federal Railroad Administration in Houston on Oct. 29, 2014.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
As coronavirus hits Texas, the state's top health official is spending 30 hours a week on a second job — that pays $600,000
Acting Executive Commissioner Phil Wilson chose not to accept salary and benefits for a temporary position leading one of Texas’ largest and most high-profile agencies. Instead, he continues to earn $636,694 from the Lower Colorado River Authority, more than double what the previous health commissioner made. Full Story
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Analysis: You didn’t think a pandemic could stop highway planning in Texas, did you?
All eyes in Texas are on the coronavirus and the state government's response to it. But some of the biggest state agencies are still doing what they always do, like building highways and debating oil and gas regulations. Full Story
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![Light traffic on I-35 during the coronavirus pandemic on April 6, 2020.]()
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Abbott's state-run camp for the homeless in Austin to be taken over by nonprofit with new shelter plans
The Texas Department of Transportation will begin lease negotiations with ATX Helps, which plans to construct a large shelter on the southeast Austin property where more than 100 people reside. Some camp residents say they're concerned about the proposed changes. Full Story
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![Tents at the state-run homeless encampment off of U.S. Highway 183 in Austin on Feb. 25, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Austin's homeless residents consider Abbott's camp helpful but say his tweets still stigmatize them
As the governor latches on to violent incidents to criticize Austin city leaders, people experiencing homelessness say he's painting them with too broad of a brush. Full Story
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![Tents line up in parking spaces at the former TxDOT facility, now 5 acres of state-sanctioned homeless campsite on Jan. 23, 2020.]()
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Someone has died on Texas roads every day for 19 years. Here's a look at some reasons why — and ideas for turning the tide.
Ever since Nov. 8, 2000, someone has been killed in a Texas wreck each day. The state's transportation department is spending an additional $600 million on safety — and trying to end all roadway deaths by 2050. Full Story
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![Pedestrians cross the intersection at Congress Ave. and 6th St. in downtown Austin on Nov. 7, 2019.]()
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Austin's homeless residents say Abbott's intervention is a short-term setback without a long-term solution
TxDOT began removing property and debris from under Austin's highways as the number of places Austin ordinances let homeless people camp dwindles. Full Story
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![TXDOT workers remove trash and personal belongings from a homeless encampment under Highway 290 at Westgate Blvd in Austin on Nov. 4, 2019.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune
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